1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to electrical connectors, and, more particularly, to communication cable connectors for use with local area networks and/or telephones.
2. Description of the Related Art
Wiring systems for use in modular office systems, such as for use in modular wall partitions and furniture, typically are formed as modular systems with discrete electrical components which interconnect in a plurality of configurations. Such a wiring system may be used to provide electrical power and/or communication signals to a work space. The communication signals may correspond to voice (i.e., telephone) signals and/or data (i.e., local area network or computer modem) signals.
A wiring arrangement for providing communication signals in the form of telephone and/or data signals is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,160,276 (Marsh, et al.), which has been reassigned to the assignee of the present invention. Disclosed thereby is a wiring arrangement in which a male and female mating connector pair associated with each workstation includes breakout terminal pairs for an RJ-45 connector arranged in a stepped manner from one workstation to another. The RJ-45 connector is connected via a jumper cable to a corresponding access port in a face plate mounted to an exposed surface within the workstation. The access port may be, e.g., another RJ-45 connector in the face place. The stepped wiring arrangement allows the same terminal pairs of each associated mating connector to be connected with the RJ-45 connector. In particular, the RJ-45 connector includes 4 terminal pairs (i.e., eight terminals) which are respectively connected with terminals 1-8 of an associated mating connector. The four terminal pairs, i.e., terminals 1-8, are disposed side-by-side relative to each other within the mating connector.
Although U.S. Pat. No. 5,160,276 (Marsh, et al.), is clearly a step forward in the art, the present inventors have recognized that still further improvements can be made. To wit, industry standards require that crosstalk between adjacent wire pairs be maintained at or below a predetermined level. Each wire pair is typically provided as a twisted wire pair, with the twist functioning to substantially eliminate crosstalk with an adjacent wire pair. However, at the points where the wires of each wire pair are connected with the terminals of the mating connector, the wires must necessarily be untwisted to allow for attachment with the associated terminals. At the attachment points with the mating connector, the wires are no longer twisted and the probability for crosstalk to occur increases. Moreover, to reduce the physical size of the connector, the spacing between adjacent terminals is maintained as small as possible and typically is only a few thousandths of an inch. Since the four twisted wire pairs are sequentially attached to eight adjacent terminals in a row of terminals of the connector, and since the terminals are maintained as close as possible to each other to reduce the physical size of the mating connector, crosstalk between adjacent wire pairs may occur to some extent.
What is needed in the art is a communication system for voice and/or data signals which not only allows for the efficient breakout of terminal pairs for an RJ-45 connector associated with each mating connector pair of a workstation, but also effectively reduces crosstalk between adjacent terminals and twisted wire pairs.